Substrate transfer apparatus and substrate transfer method

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a substrate carrying apparatus capable of surely carrying a substrate with electronic parts mounted thereon, at low costs without causing the electronic parts to fall off the substrate, and without damaging the substrate. A substrate carrying apparatus has an arm body capable of vertical and horizontal movement. The arm body is provided with a plurality of substrate suction pads capable of sticking to the upper surface of the glass substrate by suction to hold the glass substrate, and a plurality of electronic part suction pads disposed above the electronic parts so as to correspond to the electronic parts, respectively. The electronic part suction pads are capable of sticking to the upper surfaces of the electronic parts by suction to hold the electronic parts. The suction pads are connected to a suction device by suction lines. The suction pads are combined, respectively, with position adjusting mechanisms of adjusting the respective positions of the suction pads relative to the arm body. The position adjusting mechanisms adjust the respective positions of the suction pads relative to the arm body according to the size and position of the glass substrate, and the sizes and positions of the electronic parts. The electronic part suction pads are provided with springs, respectively, to enable the electronic part suction pads to come into contact with the electronic parts without exerting shocks on the electronic parts.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a part-mounting apparatus to be used infabricating a flat panel display and so on, such as a liquid crystalpanel. More particularly, the present invention relates to a substratecarrying apparatus for transferring a glass substrate or such from oneprocess to another process, and a substrate carrying method to becarried out by the substrate carrying apparatus.

BACKGROUND ART

A known part-mounting apparatus is used for mounting a film-shapedelectronic part, such as a FPC (flexible printed circuit), a COF part(chip-on-film part) or a TCP (tape carrier package), on a glasssubstrate in fabricating a flat panel display such as a liquid crystalpanel.

FIG. 6 shows, by way of example, a glass substrate with electronic partsthat are mounted thereon by such a part-mounting apparatus. As shown inFIG. 6, a glass substrate 21 is formed by laminating two sheets 21 a and21 b respectively having different sizes. A plurality of electronicparts 22 are mounted on the front and back surfaces of a peripheralportion of the glass substrate 21, i.e., the lower surface of the uppersheet 21 a and the upper surface of the lower sheet 21 b.

The glass substrate 21 thus provided with the electronic parts 22 istransferred from one process to another process by a substrate carryingapparatus 30 as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B,the substrate carrying apparatus 30 has an arm body 31 capable ofvertical and lateral movement, and a plurality of suction pads 32provided on the lower surface of the arm body 31 and capable of stickingto the upper surface of a glass substrate 21 by suction to hold theglass substrate 21. The substrate carrying apparatus 30 holds the glasssubstrate 21 (the glass substrate 21 with electronic parts 22 mountedthereon) by the suction pads 32 and carries the glass substrate 21 fromone process to another process.

Recently, the dimensions of glass substrates for flat panel displayshave progressively been increased and the dimensions of electronic partsmounted on the glass substrates have increased accordingly. Recentelectronic parts to be mounted on the glass substrates include thosehaving large outside dimensions and connected to a printed wiring boardand a heat sink. When the substrate carrying apparatus 30 shown in FIGS.7A and 7B carries a glass substrate 21 with such electronic parts 22mounted thereon, the electronic parts 22 are caused to hang down fromthe glass substrate 21 by their own weight. Thus, there is a possibilitythat the hanging electronic parts 22 drop down during conveyance due tointerference with other units or vibrations that act thereon (FIG. 7A).Moreover, there is a possibility that the electronic parts 22 are causedto strike against the glass substrate 21 due to vibrations that actthereon and thereby the glass substrate 21 is damaged (FIG. 7B).

Therefore, in the case of carrying a large glass substrate for a flatpanel display or the like, it is a general method to place on a tray 33a glass substrate 21 with electronic parts 22 mounted thereon, as shownin FIG. 8, and to carry the tray 33 holding the glass substrate 22 by acarrying arm or a carrying stage.

The tray 33 for carrying a large glass substrate is large and heavy.Therefore, it is difficult to handle the tray 33 manually and hence anadditional tray handling mechanism for handling the tray 33 is necessaryfor returning the tray 33 from the succeeding process to the precedingprocess. The tray handling mechanism needs a space for installation andincreases costs. Trays of different sizes must be used for fabricatingdifferent types of flat panel displays, i.e., for carrying glasssubstrates having different sizes, which increases the running cost.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of those problems and it istherefore an object of the present invention to provide a substratecarrying apparatus and a substrate carrying method capable of surelycarrying a substrate with electronic parts mounted thereon, at low costswithout causing the electronic parts to fall off the substrate, andwithout damaging the substrate.

According to the present invention, a substrate carrying apparatus forcarrying a substrate with electronic parts mounted thereon, includes: anarm body; a first support mechanism provided on the arm body and adaptedto support a substrate to be carried, from above the same; and a secondsupport mechanism provided on the arm body and adapted to supportelectronic parts mounted on the substrate, from above the same.

In the substrate carrying apparatus of the present invention, it ispreferable that the first support mechanism includes a plurality offirst support members arranged so as to correspond to the substrate.Preferably, the respective positions of the first support membersprovided on the arm body are adjustable. Preferably, a cushioningmechanism, which absorbs shocks that may be exerted on the substratewhen each of the first support members comes into contact with thesubstrate, is interposed between the arm body and each of the firstsupport members. The first support members may include suction membersadapted to stick to the upper surface of the substrate by suction tohold the substrate.

In the substrate carrying apparatus of the present invention, it ispreferable that the second support mechanism includes a plurality ofsecond support members arranged so as to correspond to the electronicparts. Also preferably, the respective positions of the second supportmembers provided on the arm body are adjustable. Preferably, acushioning mechanism, which absorbs a shock that may be exerted on therespective electronic parts when each of the second support member comesinto contact with the respective electronic parts, is interposed betweenthe arm body and each of the second support members. The second supportmembers may include suction members extending above the respectiveelectronic parts and adapted to stick to the respective upper surfacesof the electronic parts by suction to hold the respective electronicparts or may include support arms extending above the electronic partsand adapted to receive respective lower surfaces of the electronic partsto hold the respective electronic parts.

Preferably, the substrate carrying apparatus of the present invention isprovided with operation condition control means configured forcontrolling the operation conditions of each of the second supportmembers.

The operation condition control means may include a drive mechanism ofvertically moving each of the second support members so that theoperation condition of each of the second support members mayselectively be controlled by moving each of the second support membersto either a working position for holding the corresponding electronicpart or a retracted position spaced from the corresponding electronicpart. Preferably, the operation condition control means further includesa controller for controlling the drive mechanism according to the typeof the substrate to be carried.

In case that the second support members include suction members adaptedto stick to the respective upper surfaces of the electronic parts bysuction to hold the respective electronic parts, the operation conditioncontrol means may include a suction condition control mechanism forcontrolling the suction condition of each of the second support membersso that the operation condition of each of the second support membersmay selectively be controlled by controlling the suction condition ofeach of the second support members. Preferably, the operation conditioncontrol means further includes a controller of controlling the suctioncondition control mechanism according to the type of the substrate to becarried.

The present invention also provides a substrate carrying method ofcarrying a substrate with electronic parts mounted thereon, from a firstposition to a second position, includes the steps of: lowering an armbody toward a substrate to be carried, from above the substrate, thesubstrate being located at the first position; supporting the substrateby a first support mechanism, the first support mechanism being providedon the arm body and adapted to support the substrate from above thesubstrate, while supporting the electronic parts by a second supportmechanism, the second support mechanism being provided on the arm bodyand adapted to support the electronic parts from above the electronicparts; locating the substrate with the electronic parts mounted thereon,at the second position by vertically and horizontally moving the armbody; and releasing the substrate from the first support mechanism,while releasing the electronic parts from the second support mechanism.

Since the first support mechanism capable of supporting the substratefrom above the substrate and the second support mechanism capable ofsupporting the electronic parts from above the electronic parts areprovided on the arm body disposed above the substrate, the electronicparts are prevented from being caused to hang down by their own weightwhile the substrate is being carried. Thus, the substrate with theelectronic parts mounted thereon, can surely be carried at low costswithout causing the electronic parts to fall off the substrate, andwithout damaging the substrate.

Since the respective positions of the first support members and thesecond support members provided on the arm body are adjustable, therespective positions of the first support members and the second supportmembers provided on the arm body can be adjusted according to the sizeand position of the substrate, and the sizes and positions of theelectronic parts. Thus, the substrate carrying apparatus of the presentinvention is capable of optimally carrying different substratesrespectively for different types of flat panel displays.

Since the substrate carrying apparatus of the present invention includesthe cushioning mechanism interposed between the arm body and each of thesecond support members to absorb a shock that may be exerted on therespective electronic parts when each of the second support memberscomes into contact with the respective electronic parts, it is possibleto avoid exerting unnecessary shocks and load on the electronic parts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a front elevational view of a substrate carrying apparatus ina preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a plan view of a glass substrate with electronic partsmounted thereon, which is carried by the substrate carrying apparatusshown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 is a view of assistance in explaining a sequence of stepsconducted by the substrate carrying apparatus shown in FIG. 1A fortransferring the glass substrate from one process to another process;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of a substrate carrying apparatus in amodification of the substrate carrying apparatus shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of a substrate carrying apparatus in anothermodification of the substrate carrying apparatus shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation of a substrate carrying apparatus in afurther modification of the substrate carrying apparatus shown in FIG.1A;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a glass substrate with electronic partsmounted thereon;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic views of a conventional substrate carryingapparatus; and

FIG. 8 is perspective view of assistance in explaining anotherconventional substrate carrying apparatus.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a substrate carrying apparatus 10 in apreferred embodiment of the present invention carries a glass substrate21 with electronic parts 22 mounted thereon, from one process to anotherprocess. The glass substrate 21 to be carried is formed by laminatingtwo substrates 21 a and 21 b respectively having different sizes. Theplurality of electronic parts 22 are mounted or attached to the upperand lower surfaces of a peripheral portion of the glass substrate 21,i.e., the lower surface of the upper substrate 21 a and the uppersurface of the lower substrate 21 b.

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the substrate carrying apparatus 10 has anarm body 11 placed above the glass substrate 21 and adapted to move invertical and horizontal directions. The arm body 11 is provided with afirst support mechanism including a plurality of substrate suction pads12 (first support members) adapted to stick to the upper surface of theglass substrate 21 by suction to hold the glass substrate 21. The armbody 11 is provided with a second support mechanism for supporting theelectronic parts 22 mounted on the glass substrate 21 from above theelectronic parts 22. The second support mechanism includes a pluralityof electronic part suction pads 13 (second support members). Thesubstrate suction pads 12 and the electronic part suction pads 13 areconnected by suction lines denoted by reference characters 16 a to 16 din FIG. 4 to a vacuum device 18 shown in FIG. 4.

The substrate suction pads 12 are provided, respectively, with positionadjusting mechanisms, not shown, for adjusting the respective positionsof the substrate suction pads 12 relative to the arm body 11. Therespective positions of the substrate suction pads 12 relative to thearm body 11, i.e., the positions of the substrate suction pads 12 withrespect to longitudinal, lateral and vertical directions relative to thearm body 11, can be adjusted according to the dimensions, i.e., length,width and thickness, and the position of the glass substrate 21. Theelectronic part suction pads 13 are provided, respectively, withposition adjusting mechanisms, not shown, for adjusting the respectivepositions of the electronic part suction pads 13 relative to the armbody 11. The respective positions of the electronic part suction pads 13relative to the arm body 11, i.e., the positions of the electronic partsuction pads 13 with respect to longitudinal, lateral and verticaldirections relative to the arm body 11, can be adjusted according to thedimensions, i.e., length, width and thickness, and the positions of theelectronic parts 22. The electronic part suction pads 13 are providedwith springs (cushioning mechanisms) 15, respectively, to enable theelectronic part suction pads 13 to come into contact with the electronicparts 22 without exerting shocks on the electronic parts 22.

The electronic part suction pads 13 may be provided with sensors, notshown, respectively, to detect the operation condition of each of theelectronic part suction pads 13, i.e., to identify whether or not theelectronic part suction pads 13 are holding the electronic parts 22. Thesensors combined with the electronic part suction pads 13 caneffectively detect production of defective products due to the loss ofelectronic parts that should be on the products.

The sequence of steps conducted by the substrate carrying apparatus 10in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2( a),2(b), 2(c), 2(d) and 2(e) on an assumption that the substrate carryingapparatus 10 carries the glass substrate 21 with the electronic parts 22mounted thereon (hereinafter, referred to simply as “glass substrate21”) from a preceding process to a succeeding process.

The arm body 11 is moved leftward to locate the substrate carryingapparatus 10 at a substrate receiving position as shown in FIG. 2( a).At this stage, a substrate carrying stage 41 of the preceding process,supporting the glass substrate 21 is located at a substrate transferposition (first position).

Then, the arm body 11 is moved downward to lower the substrate carryingapparatus 10, all the substrate suction pads 12 and all the electronicpart suction pads 13 are set in a sucking state (operative state) tohold the glass substrate 21 and the electronic parts 22 as shown in FIG.2( b).

Subsequently, the arm body 11 is moved upward to raise the substratecarrying apparatus 10 and then the arm body 11 is moved rightward tomove the substrate carrying apparatus 10 to a substrate deliveringposition (second position) in the succeeding process as shown in FIG. 2(c). At this stage, a substrate carrying stage 42 of the succeedingprocess is located at a substrate receiving position.

Then, the arm body 11 is moved downward to lower the substrate carryingapparatus 10 and the glass substrate 21 is placed on the substratecarrying stage 42 of the succeeding process as shown in FIG. 2( d).

Subsequently, all the substrate suction pads 12 and all the electronicpart suction pads 13 are set in a nonsucking state (inoperative state)to release the glass substrate 21 and the electronic parts 22 from thesubstrate carrying apparatus 10. Then, the arm body 11 is moved upwardto raise the substrate carrying apparatus 10 as shown in FIG. 2( e).

Since the substrate carrying apparatus 10 in this embodiment is providedwith the substrate suction pads 12 for supporting the glass substrate 21from above the glass substrate 21, and the plurality of electronic partsuction pads 13 for supporting the electronic parts 22 from above theelectronic parts 22, the electronic parts 22 can be prevented from beingcaused to hang down by their own weight from the glass substrate 21while the glass substrate 21 is being carried. Thus, the glass substrate21 with the electronic parts 22 mounted thereon, can surely be carriedat low costs without causing the electronic parts 22 to fall off theglass substrate 21, and without damaging the glass substrate 21.

Since the respective positions of the substrate suction pads 12 and theelectronic part suction pads 13 provided on the arm body 11 areadjustable in this embodiment, the respective positions of the substratesuction pads 12 and the electronic part suction pads 13 with respect tolongitudinal, lateral and vertical directions relative to the arm body11 can be adjusted according to the dimensions, i.e., length, width andthickness, and the positions of the glass substrate 21 and theelectronic parts. Thus, different glass substrates respectively fordifferent types of flat panel displays can optimally be carried.

Since the electronic part suction pads 13 are provided with springs(cushioning mechanisms) 15, respectively, to enable the electronic partsuction pads 13 to come into contact with the electronic parts 22, it ispossible to avoid exerting unnecessary shocks and load on the electronicparts 22.

Although all the electronic part suction pads 13 provided on the armbody 11 in the foregoing embodiments are set in an operative state incarrying the glass substrate 21. The operation conditions of theelectronic part suction pads 13 are not limited thereto; the electronicpart suction pads 13 may selectively be controlled according to the typeof the flat panel display to be fabricated such that only the electronicpart suction pads 13 that need to support the electronic parts 22 areset in the sucking state (operative state) and the rest are set in anonsucking state (inoperative state).

More concretely, as shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of electronic partsuction pads 13 are combined with drive mechanisms 14 for verticallymoving the electronic part suction pads 13, respectively. A controller35 set each of the electronic part suction pads 13 at a working positionfor holding the corresponding electronic part 22 or a retracted positionspaced from the corresponding electronic part 22 according to the typeof the substrate to be carried. The drive mechanisms 14 and thecontroller 35 constitute an operation condition control means.

As shown in FIG. 4, the electronic part suction pads 13 may be connectedby the suction lines 16 a to 16 d to the vacuum device 18, and therespective operation conditions of the electronic part suction pads 13may be controlled by changing the suction conditions of the suctionlines by controlling a suction line operating mechanism 17 includingsolenoid valves and such by a controller 36. Although each suction lineis respectively assigned to each of the sides of the glass substrate 21in FIG. 4, suction lines may be assigned to each of the electronic partsuction pads 13. Pad selection information about the electronic partsuction pads 13 to be used may be stored in the controller 36 togetherwith type information about the type of a flat panel display to befabricated, and the respective operation conditions of the electronicpart suction pads 13 may automatically be controlled according to thetype of the substrate to be carried. The suction lines 16 a to 16 d, andthe suction line operating mechanism 17 constitute a suction conditioncontrol mechanism. The suction lines 16 a to 16 d, the suction lineoperating mechanism 17 and the controller 36 constitute an operationcondition control means.

Although the electronic part suction pads 13 of the foregoing embodimentstick to the upper surfaces of the electronic parts 22 to hold theelectronic parts 22, respectively, electronic part support arms 19 maybe used instead of the electronic part suction pads 13, as shown in FIG.5. The electronic part support arms 19 come into contact with the lowersurfaces of the electronic parts 22 to hold the electronic parts 22.

Although the electronic part suction pads 13 are provided with thesprings 15, respectively, in the foregoing embodiment, the substratesuction pads 12 may be provided with mechanisms similar to the springs15.

Although the invention has been described in terms of an embodiment asapplied to carrying a glass substrate for a flat panel display, thepresent invention is applicable to carrying any type of substrate.

1. A substrate carrying apparatus configured for carrying a substratewith electronic parts mounted thereon, said substrate carrying apparatuscomprising: an arm body; a first support mechanism provided on the armbody and adapted to support a substrate to be carried, from above thesame; and a second support mechanism provided on the arm body andadapted to support electronic parts mounted on the substrate, from abovethe same, wherein the first support mechanism includes a plurality offirst support members arranged so as to correspond to the substrate,wherein the first support members include suction members adapted tostick to an upper surface of the substrate by suction to hold thesubstrate, wherein the second support mechanism includes a plurality ofsecond support members arranged so as to correspond to the electronicparts, wherein the second support members include suction membersextending above the respective electronic parts and adapted to stick torespective upper surfaces of the electronic parts by suction to hold therespective electronic parts, and wherein the suction members of thesecond support members are positioned outside the suction members of thefirst support members in such that a positioning area of the suctionmembers of the second support members surrounds a positioning area ofthe suction members of the first support members in a plan view thereof,and the suction members of the second support members are continuouslypositioned below the suction members of the first support members inelevation so that the suction members of the first support members andthe suction members of the second support members securely stick to theupper surface of the substrate and the respective upper surfaces of theelectric parts respectively.
 2. The substrate carrying apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein a cushioning mechanism is interposedbetween the arm body and each of the second support members, saidcushioning mechanism absorbing a shock exerted on the substrate wheneach of the second support members comes into contact with thesubstrate.
 3. The substrate carrying apparatus according to claim 1,wherein a cushioning mechanism is interposed between the arm body andeach of the second support members, said cushioning mechanism absorbinga shock exerted on the electronic parts when each of the second supportmembers comes into contact with the respective electronic parts.
 4. Thesubstrate carrying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising anoperation condition control means configured for controlling anoperation condition of each of the second support members.
 5. Thesubstrate carrying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the operationcondition control means includes a drive mechanism of vertically movingeach of the second support members so that the operation condition ofeach of the second support members is selectively controlled by movingeach of the second support members to either a working position forholding the corresponding electronic part or a retracted position spacedfrom the corresponding electronic part.
 6. The substrate carryingapparatus according to claim 5, wherein the operation condition controlmeans further includes a controller configured for controlling the drivemechanism according to a type of the substrate to be carried.
 7. Thesubstrate carrying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the secondsupport members include suction members adapted to stick to respectiveupper surfaces of the electronic parts by suction to hold the respectiveelectronic parts, and the operation condition control means includes asuction condition control mechanism of controlling a suction conditionof each of the second support members so that the operation condition ofeach of the second support members is selectively controlled bycontrolling the suction condition of each of the second support members.8. The substrate carrying apparatus according to claim 7, wherein theoperation condition control means further includes a controller ofcontrolling the suction condition control mechanism according to a typeof the substrate to be carried.
 9. A substrate carrying method ofcarrying a substrate with electronic parts mounted thereon, from a firstposition to a second position, said substrate carrying method comprisingthe steps of: lowering an arm body toward a substrate to be carried,from above the substrate, the substrate being located at the firstposition; supporting the substrate by a first support mechanism, saidfirst support mechanism being provided on the arm body and adapted tosupport the substrate from above the substrate, while supporting theelectronic parts by a second support mechanism, said second supportmechanism being provided on the arm body and adapted to support theelectronic parts from above the electronic parts; locating the substratewith the electronic parts mounted thereon, at the second position byvertically and horizontally moving the arm body; and releasing thesubstrate from the first support mechanism, while releasing theelectronic parts from the second support mechanism, wherein the firstsupport mechanism includes a plurality of first support members arrangedso as to correspond to the substrate, wherein the first support membersinclude suction members adapted to stick to an upper surface of thesubstrate by suction to hold the substrate, wherein the second supportmechanism includes a plurality of second support members arranged so asto correspond to the electronic parts, wherein the second supportmembers include suction members extending above the respectiveelectronic parts and adapted to stick to respective upper surfaces ofthe electronic parts by suction to hold the respective electronic parts,and wherein the suction members of the second support members arepositioned outside the suction members of the first support members inthe plan view and below the suction members of the first support membersin the front elevation so that the suction members of the first supportmembers and the suction members of the second support members cansecurely stick to the upper surface of the substrate and the respectiveupper surfaces of the electric parts respectively.